Two workers died after unlicensed mine collapses in Turkey's Zonguldak

Two workers were killed when an unlicensed coal mine collapsed in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak on July 7.

45-year-old Erkan Cankurt and 30-year-old Hasan Yıldız were trapped under wreckage, while another worker managed to get out and call help.

Following about four hours of search efforts, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) teams pulled out the lifeless bodies of Cankurt and Yıldız.

Meanwhile, another miner who participated in the rescue operation had minor breathing problems and was later referred to the hospital for medical treatment.

The collapsed mine is reported to have officially been shut down in 2016.

Occupational murders are not unusual in Turkey. Its worst ever mining disaster took place in May 2014 in the western town of Soma, where 301 workers were killed.

It is pretty clear that the main reason of occupational murders is that the capitalists skip precautions for the sake of profits and avoid to create a safe working environment. But the increase in occupational murders in Turkey under the rule of Justice and Development Party (AKP) is also closely related with the "growth model".

In the past 16 years under the AKP rule, capitalism in Turkey has grown much larger in sectors included in "hazardous occupations" than in others, where "circulation of the capital" is much faster, profits are higher, acceleration is forced, and humans are regarded cheaper than machines.